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Ingredient

vegetable oil

Also known as: cooking oil, Oil, avocado oil

A neutral-flavored cooking oil, commonly soybean-based though the term is used loosely for any bland blended oil; suited to sauteing, frying, and baking wherever fat is needed without adding its own flavor.

Buying guidance

Buy a plain 'vegetable oil' or other refined neutral oil (canola, sunflower, corn) rather than something like olive oil when a recipe calls for it by name -- the whole point of the ingredient is its lack of flavor and high smoke point, both of which a more flavorful oil undermines. A smaller bottle used up within a few months stays fresher than a large one that sits half-used for a year.

Substitutions

  • Canola oil -- essentially interchangeable; neutral flavor, similar smoke point.
  • Sunflower or grapeseed oil -- also neutral and stable at high heat; slightly pricier but work the same way.
  • Melted butter -- adds flavor and lowers the smoke point, so best only where a dish can tolerate both changes.
  • Olive oil -- adds its own flavor and has a somewhat lower smoke point; fine for moderate-heat sauteing, less ideal for deep frying.

Tips & common mistakes

Once oil starts smoking heavily, it's already breaking down and will taste acrid in the food -- if it smokes before anything's been added to the pan, pull it off the heat briefly to cool rather than pushing forward.

Storage

Keep the bottle away from the stove and out of direct light -- heat and light speed up rancidity even in a sealed container, and oil kept warm beside the stove for months can turn rancid, tasting faintly like old paint, well before its printed date.

More specific

Used in 18 recipes